Samsung UN65KS8500 vs UN65KS8000 Review :Which is a better choice?

Overview

Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS8000 are parts of Samsung’s 2016 4K SUHD TV lineup series 8. The major difference between them is about their type of panel where UN65KS8500 comes with curved panel while UN65KS8000 comes with flat panel. In term of features and performance that offered, they are almost the same. Unlike most of top model 4K TV lineup that available in the market or their predecessor JS8500 series, Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 is not equipped with 3D technology. But in other hands, they come with Ultra HD Premium label as the flagship, a certification for a TV that meet all of the minimum standardization set by UHD Alliance and can display HDR fully. In addition Great HDR performance, Tizen OS as their smart TV is also an interesting thing that offered by them.

Behind them, both of Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS800 are powered by HDR 1000 engine as their HDR processor. For improving Black Level, their panel is powered by Edge Lit Backlight with local Dimming Technology called Precision Black Technology and the advanced technology like UHD Dimming and Ultra Black. Otherwise, for improving the brightness of the picture, there are Ultra Clear Pane and Peak Illuminator Pro technology behind them. Additionally, for delivering wide color gamut, they are supported by quantum dot technology where with this technology, they can cover more than 95% of DCI P3 color space.

Both of Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 are also good performers in handling motion blur where there is Motion Rate 240 Hz based on native 120 Hz refresh rate panel behind them. Additionally, it is also powered by great performance UHD Up-scaling engine to up-scale lower resolution content to near 4K quality. And that is not less powerful is about their Smart TV where with Tizen OS, they offer intuitive, attractive, and responsive smart TV platform that also provide a lot of useful and interesting apps.

In the market, both of them are sold with the price about $1500 where UN65KS8500 is sold about $100 more expensive than UN65KS8000. But of course, these prices are not fixe and could still change at any time and usually will tend go to down as time goes by.

Differences between Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS8000

Discuss about the difference between Samsung UN65KS8000 andUN65KS8500, this is tantamount to discuss the difference between Flat panel and Curved panel because indeed, the main difference between them is about the type of their panel. As mentioned, UN65KS800 come with flat panel while UN65KS8500 come with curved panel. And of course this is not just about viewing angle. Let’s discuss one by one as the impact of their difference in shape of panel.

Viewing Angle

As claimed by Samsung, UN65KS8500 with curved panel offers wider range of viewing angle than UN65KS8000 that come flat panel. Essentially, both of them use VA panel where poor viewing angle is the native characteristic of VA Panel where the picture will look deteriorate started at 20 degrees off center and front. But is it true curved can fix it? On curved panel, if the picture is seen from 20 degrees off center as the critical angle, the picture on the closest panel side to the eye will look worse than flat panel. Otherwise, the picture on the farthest panel side will look better. So overall, their performance in critical angle is virtually identical. Move to wider from center, as example at 45 degrees, the picture on the closest panel side of curved panel to the eye will look a bit compressed while the picture on the farthest side of curved panel will look a bit stretched. From here we can see, there is not significant improvement of curved panel over flat panel.

Size

This might the obvious advantages of curved panel and flat panel. With the same screen, the picture displayed on the screen of UN65KS8500 with curved panel look bigger than UN65KS8000. Logically, with the same viewing distance, UN65KS8500 with curved panel has a bigger FOV (Field on View) than Samsung UN65KS8000 with flat panel. With 8 feet viewing distance, FOV of UN65KS8500 is 28.4 degrees while FOV of UN65KS800 is 28 degrees. This makes UN65KS8500’ screen size of 55” looks like screen size of 55.8”. This course is very small difference.

Reflection

Because they have difference in shape of panel, the reflections also appear different. On curved panel, the reflections will be more focused on side of the screen while on flat panel, the reflections will be more focused into the inner side. But because there is Ultra Clear Panel Ultimate technology behind them that designed for reducing the reflection, this difference of course become less meaningful for UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500.

From we have discussed above, there is no significant difference in performance between curved panel and Flat panel. If there is any difference, their impact is not too major on the quality of the picture that produced by them.

Similarities

Picture quality

The excepting of the shape of panel, Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 offers similar performance and features. Both of them are also powered by the same technologies. Talking about picture quality that offered, of course it becomes the flagship of both as the mid-end of 4K TVs with a fairly affordable price compared to premium model that certainly has a huge price.

As mentioned, both Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS8000 are including cheapest TVs that compliant with Ultra HD Premium Certification. As we know, it is certification that destined for a HDR TVs which meet all of the minimum standardization of HDR 10 set by UHD Alliance. You need know, for displaying HDR 10 contents fully, a TV should reach 0.05 nits – 1000 nits contrast range, cover more than 90% of DCI P3 color space, and support 10 bit color.

With the number technology behind them, the deepest black level that can be reached by both is about 0.015 nits, much lower than 0.05 nits of black level as the standardization of HDR 10. This might not as deep as what offered by OLED TV, but for LED TVs, what was achieved both is very nice. Otherwise, in term of peak brightness, both of them can reach about 1500 nits of peak brightness while the minimum standardization of HDR 10 is 1000 nits. This makes the picture that displayed is very bright. Combination of very deep blacks and bright whites makes the picture that produced by them looks very stunning even in bright room.

Additionally, for delivering wide color gamut, both Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 are powered by quantum dot technology where in last year this technology called Nano Crystal Color. The result, both of them can cover about 95% of DCI P3 Color space, wider than 90% of DCI P3 color space what required by HDR 10. This makes color of the picture that produced is rich and looks very vivid. Not only that, both of them also support 10 bit panel that offers very smooth color gradient without gradation.

Samsung QUantum dot With 10 Bit Panel

With great display specs that offered by them, of course picture that displayed on each of their screen will look very amazing, no matter it is in HDR or non HDR. More they are compliant with Ultra HD Premium which guarantees they can display HDR 10 contents fully and stunningly. But as we have discussed above, viewing angle of both is poor, you can enjoy amazing picture quality that displayed on their screen only from center and front, once past 20 degrees off center, the quality will deteriorate. The right placement of TV and set on your room is very important to get best viewing.

Motion Handling

Samsung might not be the best in handling motion blur but at least, their performance when handling motion blur is still good. Their pixel response time is not as quick as the competitors. In certain scenes when they are displaying fast moving images, faint traces are still slightly noticeably. But with untrained eyes, motion blur might not be noticeable. In this case, Samsung UN65KS8500 offers sight better performance than UN65KS8000. Additionally, the perfect performance is also offered by them when they are handling 24p movies like Blu-ray movies. The picture that displayed is really free from judder. For removing judder when displaying 24p contents via 60i and 60p signals, you need set “Auto Motion Plus” to “Custom” and both sliders to “0”.

UHD Up-scaling

This feature is not too important if all of the videos sources are mastered in 4K resolution. But unfortunately, most of the contents that available in the streaming services or media disc still have resolution lower than 4K. To still enjoy them in 4K quality, a TV certainly should have great performance UHD Up-scaling Engine. And fortunately, both Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS8000 are equipped with great performance UHD Up-scaling Engine. No matter the resolution of sources, both Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 do a good job when up-scaling them in 4K quality, even for SD or DVD contents with resolution of 480p. The picture resulted looks very sharp and clear, even without much loss small details. Moreover for sources with higher resolution, of course the result is sharper and clearer.

Inputs/Outputs

As the major connectivity, both of Samsung UN65KS8500 and UN65KS8000 are equipped with 4 HDMI Ports and 3 USB Ports. But unlike other TVs where all of their connection ports are installed on the side or rear panel of TV, all of HDMI Ports, 2 USB ports, RF in are installed on one connect box. On the rear panel, there are only 1 USB Port, 1 Ethernet, and 1 Digital Audio Out (optical), RS 232, and terminal for “One Connect Box” cable. There are not Composite (AV) in and Component In behind them. Talking about performance, the input lag of them is very low on both 1080p and 4K resolution once the “Game Mode” is enabled. This makes their input is very responsive, even for games that require fast responsiveness.

Samsung One Connect Box

Smart TV

It is one of the interesting things from Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500. As mentioned, both of them features Tizen OS as their platform and powered by a quad core processor. It might not the best platform, but smart experience that offered is really good. The layout is simple and makes you more comfort when navigating or selecting and launching apps. Additionally, the response time for selecting between apps and app loading is also very quick. In additionally responsive performance, Tizen OS also provide most popular apps like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Amazon Videos, Web Browser, and many others also tons of apps that you can download from Samsung Apps center. Still about interesting feature, there is also Game Cloud apps that allow you to play tons of games from Games Streaming Service. Essentially, Tizen OS is very attractive and responsive with tons of apps provided.

Tizen OS

As the controller, both of Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 is equipped with Smart Controller as in its buying package. Unlike Samsung Smart Touch Remote, it is simple with only few buttons makes it more comfortable to use. But unfortunately, there is no “point and Click” function that certainly will make you awkward when inputting text. But even s, there is built-in microphone for voice navigation where with your voice, you can control part of the TV functions like increase volume, change the input or channel, switch on/off the TV, and more. That is not less useful is it cans serve at universal remote where with only single remote, you can control all of devices that connected onto TV via HDMI.

Sound Quality

As we see on comparison table above, both of these Samsung 65 Inch Series 8 are powered by 2.1 channels speaker system with 40 watts total speaker power. The result, their sound quality is not too bad with decent frequency response. Moreover it is equipped with built-in sound bar that significantly improve low frequency or bass performance so heard more steady. But for impressive sound experience, what delivered by both UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500 still far from the required. Although not urgent, the addition of external sound bar is still recommended.

Summary

Conclusion

As we have discussed a lot above, as the mid-end of 4K TVs, picture quality is the flagship both of Samsung UN65KS8000 and UN65KS8500.Moreover, it is featuring Ultra HD Premium Certification which guarantee great HDR performance that offered by them. Picture quality that produced looks very stunning for its class in both HDR and SDR quality with deep black level, bright whites, and rich color. In addition picture quality, they also offer great performance in motion handling and UHD Up-scaling. In other hand, attractive Tizen OS also become the other attraction of both.

The only big downsides of both are about their poor viewing angle and no 3D technology behind them. But because all of model of premium LED TVS also have an issue on viewing angle, we can certainly ignore about it. While about 3D, the excepting of UH8500 series, in their class, there is no TV equipped with 3D technology.

So, which is a better choice between them? As mentioned, in the market both of them are sold with difference in price about $100 where UN65KS8500 is sold more expensive than UN65KS8000. But even so, in performance side, they offer virtual identical performance. Looking at this case, Samsung UN65KS8000 certainly is better choice than UN65KS8500 because you can save about $100 for similar performance even in certain aspect, it is slight better. But if you like aesthetics and a bit advantage of UN65KS8500 as a curved TV and don’t mind spend $100 more for that, there is no harm if you choose Samsung UN65KS8500. Now the decision comes back to you according your taste, flat TV or curved TV.

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